


Dyspneic

by ForTheFunOfIt_37



Category: Doctor Who
Genre: 13 is a disaster, 13 is chaotic, Everyone is chaotic, THE FAM - Freeform, Team TARDIS, The Doctor hates hospitals, Thirteenth Doctor Era
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-18
Updated: 2020-04-18
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:07:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23725063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ForTheFunOfIt_37/pseuds/ForTheFunOfIt_37
Summary: The Doctor always is the one to make sacrifices and play the hero. Regardless of the pain it brings her, the Doctor will always ensure no one gets left behind.OR13 is her usual chaotic self in a planet where the air is toxic and the fam is forced to deal with it. Also the Doctor has a dislike for listening to the rules. She also doesn't like hospitals.
Comments: 5
Kudos: 26





	Dyspneic

**Author's Note:**

> any sciencey-medical stuff is absolute bullshit. This is just supposed to be fun. Please leave a comment and let me know what you think!

Yaz watched her friend pout a little as she contemplated the problem at hand.

“You take it.” The team’s planet guide, Zoyreh, said. “Then when you get to the station, send someone back for me.”

“No way.” The Doctor responded firmly. “You’d be killed before we were even halfway to the station.”

“Then what do we do?” Ryan asked frustratingly.

The Doctor made a face. “I don’t know. Working on it.”

“Not to be a nag, Doc, but we need to be outta here real quick.” Graham spoke up. “You know, before the … things. Before the things get here.” He gestured to the jungle landscape shown through the window behind them.

“Working on it, Graham!” The Doctor cried, scowling at the older man. She mumbled something to herself and began to pace.

Yaz, Ryan, Zoyreh, and Graham all watched with bated breath as the Doctor paced anxiously in front of them. She looked slightly mad, muttering to herself, making faces and gesturing wildly with her hands, but the team knew that she was thinking hard. Calculating the odds of success of each crazy plan her brilliant mind came up with.

“Oh!” She exclaimed suddenly, spinning around towards them.

Everyone’s heads snapped to the blonde woman as she bounded over to Zoyreh. She clearly had an idea.

“What other gase have you got?” The Doctor asked quickly, a small amount of excitement present in her voice. “ ‘cause you get more than oxygen breathers here, so I know you’ve got others.”

Zoyreh considered her response for a moment before speaking. “Well … there’s hydrogen that I know of, nitrogen carbonate … I think there’s some carbon dioxide, and then there’s some nitroxide.”

The Doctor huffed a sigh. “Well, it’s not ideal, but if we take theー”

“No,” Zoyreh seemed to see where the Doctor’s mind was going and cut her off. “It’s not going to work. We don’t have the time or the equipment to separate enough oxygen.”

“I know, I know.” The Doctor growled in frustration, clenching her fists in her hair like it would force an idea to come to her head.

“Doctor, I know you don’t like it butー”

“We are not leaving you.” The Doctor interjected. She sighed again before continuing. “Do you have the equipment at the station to do a nitrogen detox?”

Zoyreh made a face. “Yes, but how doesー”

“Give me the nitroxide.” The Doctor said. “I can get about 40 minute of oxygen from it, but I’ll need to get that detox as soon as we get to the station.”

“Multi-hearted, then?” Zoyreh guessed, and the Doctor nodded. “Are you sure, Doctor? Breathing nitroxideー”

“I’ll be fine.” The Doctor insisted. “Now let’s get a shift on, yeah?”

Zoyreh quickly distributed the four oxygen breathers to Yaz, Ryan, Graham and herself before handing the Doctor the nitroxide breather. The Doctor helped make sure her friends all had their control devices properly secured on their arms, the nose pieces in place, and that everyone’s was working before sliding her own control device onto her arm.

“Well,” She said, turning the nose piece over in her hand. “Here goes nothing I guess.”

The Doctor took one final breath of oxygen before she settled the nose piece across the bridge of her nose. Her whole body shuddered as she took the first breath of nitroxide.

“You ‘right, Doc?” Graham asked.

The Doctor shivered before looking up. “Yeah, fine! Just been a while since I did a nitroxide transferral though.”

Yaz, Ryan, and Graham all exchanged looks of minor concern and confusion.

“Shall we?” The Doctor indicated the door with a smile.

“Right. Follow me everyone.” Zoyreh said and she began the traipse across the planet’s toxic jungle-filled surface.

*________*________*

Twenty minutes into the walk had everyone on edge. The sounds of dangerous creatures behind them kept them going. Everyone was desperate to get to the station and out of harms way.

“How ya doin’, Doc?” Graham asked, looking to the woman beside him as they hiked together at the back of the pack.

“Fine … “ The Doctor said breathlessly. “ … ‘s okay.”

Graham’s face drew up in concern. “You sure? We can stop for a minute if you need to catch your breath?”

The Doctor wordlessly shook her head and pressed on. Graham kept right with her, praying she’d stay on her feet until they made it to the station. He was worried about her, and there was no denying it. She was running out of air faster than she was letting on and her skin had taken on a blue-ish appearance. She had told them it was the excess nitrogen building up in her blood when Ryan had asked about it ten minutes earlier, and that she would be fine.

Yaz had looked doubtful, but trusted that the Doctor knew her own physiology better than any of them ever could. Graham wasn’t so easily persuaded and had been keeping a close eye on the Doctor.

“Hey, Zoyreh?” Graham asked finally. “How much further do you think we’ve got to go?”

Zoyreh tapped her wrist to bring up a map.

“About 10 or 15 minutes more.” She responded once she’d checked their location.

Graham thanked her, content for the moment. The Doctor had said she could get 40 minutes out of the nitroxide, so she would make it. Unless, of course, she was lying about how much she could take or the trip was somehow made longer.

Graham was pulled from his thoughts when the Doctor stumbled, falling to her knees. She was gasping and her skin was bluer than it looked earlier.

“Stay down, luv!” Graham said when she moved to stand. “Rest for a bit. Alright?”

She didn’t respond, only gratefully accepting Graham’s support when he dropped to his knees beside her, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder.

By this point the rest of the group had noticed they had stopped and had come back to join them.

“Doctor, are you alright?” A concerned Yaz asked.

Seeing that the Doctor couldn’t answer, Graham spoke up. “We’re just takin’ a breather, Yaz. Catchin’ our breath, then we’ll be right as rain.”

“It’s the nitrogen.” Zoyreh said, squatting in front of the Doctor and carefully examining her. Addressing the woman kneeling on the ground she asked “Bi or tri?”

“How’s that?” Ryan asked, puzzled.

“Hearts.” Zoyreh clarified. “How many hearts has she got?”

The Doctor coughed, but managed a response. “Two … sorry.”

“I figured.” Zoyreh said with a sigh. “You’re an idiot, you know that?”

The Doctor gave her a weak smile.

Seeing the group’s confused faces, Zoyreh stood up to address them. “Your friend here was right, she can get enough oxygen, but she can’t take much more nitrogen. She’s conveniently failed to mention this in an attempt to play the hero.”

Ryan looked towards the Doctor. “What d’you do that for?”

“Just wanted to … “ The Doctor broke off into a coughing fit.

“Just wanted to help.” Yaz finished. “She’d nearly kill herself just to help somebody. You stupid alien.”

Yaz directed the last comment towards the Doctor, who gave Yaz a brief smile before coughing again.

“Well,” Zoyreh looked around the small group. “If we don’t keep moving we’ll end up as a meal for those creatures.”

“Right.” The Doctor gasped. “Help me up.”

Graham and Ryan reached down and helped pull her to her feet. Her steps were wobbly and uncertain, so Graham put a supporting arm around her waist. The Doctor nodded her thanks and put her arm around his shoulders, allowing him to assist her.

“Keep me awake?” The Doctor whispered.

“You got it, Doc.” Graham gave her a reassuring smile. “Don’t you worry, we’ll get you to the station safe and sound.”

Zoyreh called for them to move out and the party began to move again. Sounds of the toxic jungle creatures could be heard in the distance behind them. Graham tightened his grasp on the Doctor, willing himself to be strong for her.

  
  
  


They were going to make it! The station was in sight.

“You see that, Doc?!” Graham exclaimed, relief flooding him. “We’ve made it! Only a few more steps!”

The Doctor didn’t answer and she suddenly grew much heavier, throwing Graham of balance.

“Doc?!” Graham lowered her to the ground as gently as he could. 

He tapped her cheek, trying to get her to open her eyes. Her breathing had turned ragged and shallow. She wasn’t waking up, wasn’t responding.

“Graham!” Yaz yelled, running over with Ryan right behind her. “Oh my god! What happened?”

“I dunno, she just kinda passed out I guess.” Graham said. “I can’t get her to wake up.”

Yaz dropped to her knees beside the Doctor. She shook the woman in an attempt to wake her. The Doctor barely moved.

“Sorry, Doctor.” Yaz said. She took a deep breath, then slapped the Doctor across the face.

“Yaz!” Ryan and Graham cried together in alarm.

The Doctor moaned pitifully and cracked her eyes open.

“Oh thank god! Ryan, help me.”

Ryan and Yaz together pulled the Doctor to her feet, supporting her between them.

“Come on, Doctor.” Yaz coached as she and Ryan pulled her along. “Almost there, just keep breathing.”

The Doctor, barely clinging to consciousness, didn’t answer.

The pair moved as quickly as they could, pulling the Doctor along. Graham was right beside them and Zoyreh ran ahead to the station to call for the medical team. Then she came back to usher Ryan and Yaz inside.

“Right, we’ll take it from here.” A man in a sterile uniform said as soon as they had made it through the door. He motioned his team forward.

Two female nurses took over from Yaz and Ryan, holding the Doctor upright while a male nurse removed her breathing device. The Doctor choked for a few agonizing seconds before giving a wheezing gasp, breathing in oxygen.

“Easy.” The first man, clearly the one in charge, frowned as he examined the Doctor’s blue-tainted skin. “She can’t wait. Do the injection then get her to a room. Nitrogen detoxification.” 

His team moved fast under his commands. They stripped the Doctor of her long coat and slid the suspender straps off her shoulders with practiced hands while maneuvering her towards a gurney. One of the females lifted the Doctor’s blue shirt and undershirt just enough to expose her lower back so that the male nurse could expertly inject an orange serum into her body.

The Doctor made a small noise before going limp and was situated on the gurney.

“Breathing better, Doctor.” One of the nurses commented. The first man listened to the unconscious woman's breathing, satisfied that it was no longer as shallow or painful-sounding as before, then motioned for the team to move out.

“You got her here just in time.” He said, turning to address the others. “We’ve briefly boosted her nitrogen tolerance to prepare for the detox. We’ll clear the nitrogen out of her as fast as we can. You don’t need to worry.”

“She’ll be alright then?” Graham asked.

“Of course.” The medical doctor smiled. “Now I need to go oversee preparations, but we’ll keep you informed of her progress.”

“Right, thank you, Doctor … ?” Zoyreh trailed off, looking at the man.

“Ridden.” He supplied.

“Yes, thank you, Doctor Ridden. We’ll let you be on your way.”

“Actually,” Yaz spoke up nervously. “Doctor Ridden, would you let us tag along?”

Ridden looked like he was going to say no when Graham spoke.

“We’d rather not leave her.” Graham said. “She don’t do well in hospitals either.”

“Alright.” Doctor Ridden gave in with a sigh. “But you’ll need to stay out of the way and do exactly as you’re told.”

“ ‘course we will.” Ryan agreed. “Thank you.”

  
  


Yaz, Ryan, and Graham stood off to one side, nervously watching the scene as Ridden’s team looked after the Doctor.

Reena, one of the female nurses, was trying to get the Doctor(now more conscious and aware of her location) to relax and lay back, but with little luck.

“Please, dear, you need to lay still.” Reena pleaded, hands on the Doctor’s shoulders.

“Can’t be here.” The Doctor murmured, trying to push Reena’s hands off of her. “Need to go … breathe … can’t breathe …”

“Doctor Ridden!” Reena called as the Doctor began to fight more violently, her breathing more and more labored. She shouted something in a language no one understood.

“Talk to her!” Ridden commanded the three humans as he grabbed something off a tray. “Let her know she’s safe.”

“Doctor, you’re alright.” Yaz said, stepping closer to their friend. “Me and Ryan and Graham are right here, you’re gonna be fine.”

“That’s right, Doc.” Ryan added. “You gotta let these people help you. They can help.”

Graham stepped forward as well. “Just relax, luv, everything’s gonna be okay. Stopping fightin’ these people, they’re here to help you get better.”

The humans’ voices were able to calm the Time Lord enough that Ridden was able to administer a mild sedative.

“That’s better.” Ridden commented as the Doctor relaxed. She was semi-conscious now, and only occasionally murmuring to herself. “Baylen, are we ready?”

“Nearly, just waiting on Talia.” The male nurse responded, walking over. He had a device in his hands that the humans couldn’t quite identify. Similar to an inhaler, but a bit bigger and had space for two canisters of medication. One clear canister was already in place, full of a blue liquid.

“I’m here.” Talia, the other female nurse, said as she entered the room. She was carrying a small medically sealed bag and what appeared to be a biohazard bucket.

“Good.” Ridden took the bag, ripping it open and removing another canister which he placed in the device he had taken from Baylen.

Talia had taken up a spot beside the Doctor’s bed, bucket in hand, awaiting further instruction. Reena was beside her, checking the oxygen machine and then standing ready with the mask in her hands.

Baylen, on the other side of the bed, was able to set up an IV line with little protest from the Doctor. 

The Doctor didn’t seem to be fully aware of all that was going on around her.

That is, until she finally took notice of Talia with her bucket and Ridden approaching with the device in his hands.

“ ‘s not gonna happen.” She slurred, looking a bit more alert. “ ‘s primitive …”

Ridden gave a small smile. “I am sorry, but we are not equipped for an automatic diffusional detoxification out here.”

“Alright.” The Doctor sighed in defeat and allowed Reena to assist her in sitting up. “ … wanna do it myself …”

“Fair enough.” Ridden said. “Do I need to remind you of how to do this?”

The Doctor shook her head. “No … done it before.”

Ridden nodded in understanding and handed her the device. “Whenever you’re ready.”

The Doctor wasted no time in bringing the device up to her mouth and dispensing both medications. She sat still for a few seconds before she shivered. She practically threw the device back at Ridden before she turned and threw up into Talia’s bucket.

The humans all made noises of surprise.

“Is that supposed to happen?” Ryan asked as they watched the Doctor be violently ill again.

“Yes.” Ridden responded. “This is totally normal, nothing to worry about.”

“She’s alright.” Reena assured, rubbing the Doctor’s back gently. As soon as she stopped vomiting, Reena gave her the oxygen mask. The Doctor greedily sucked in several quick breaths of fresh oxygen before returning the mask and being ill once more.

“I’m sorry, I’m afraid I don’t understand.” Yaz, a puzzled look on her face, turned to Doctor Ridden. “How’s makin’ her sick supposed to help anything?”

“She’s purging her system of the nitrogen.” Ridden explained. When the Doctor paused for oxygen again, he frowned and leaned forward, placing the back of his hand on her forehead.

“Sorry, howー”

Ridden cut Yaz off to address Baylen. “Better do a round of thermoxicin, just to be safe.”

The Doctor’s head shot up from the bucket. 

“Don’tー” She broke off to be sick, coughing before continuing. “Resistant.”

She then accepted the oxygen, taking a few breaths before groaning and returning to the bucket.

Ryan could have sworn he heard her murmer several explicit phrases to the bottom of the bucket.

“Therophilicin, then.” Ridden amended, and Baylen slipped out of the room.

“So how’s all this get rid of the nitrogen, then, eh?” Graham asked.

“The nitro-fillament combined with the gastrictubacial condenses all the excess nitrogen into a semi-solid waste in the stomach.” Talia explained. “To remove the toxin, the emetic induces vomiting.”

“Oh. That’s pleasant.” Graham said uncertainty.

“There’s gotta be an easier way to do that.” Ryan expressed in disbelief. “I mean come on, this is the future!”

“There is.” The Doctor grumbled, collapsing back on the bed. She glared at Ridden.

“Yes, there is. Unfortunately, we are not equipped for it.” Ridden answered, ignoring the blonde woman’s look of hostility. “Baylen will be back in a moment to administer the therocphilicin, then we’ll leave you to rest. I’ll be around to check on you, and in a few hours we’ll see how you’re feeling.”

“Alright.” The Doctor sighed. “Thanks.”

“Of course.” Ridden smiled and led his team out of the room. 

Baylen came in a moment later, just as Ridden had said, and gave the Doctor a shot of therocphilicin.

“Helps to make sure no serious damage was done,” He explained to the humans. He then turned to the Doctor. “Rest now, you hear?”

“Right. ‘Course.” The Doctor said, and Baylen gave them all a smile before exiting the room.

There was a moment of awkward silence as the three humans and the Time Lord all stared at each other.

“Sorry.” The Doctor spoke first. “I’m sorry to have scared you all. But I’m fine, I promise.”

“You could have died.” Yaz said quietly. Graham and Ryan didn’t speak, but seemed to be having similar thoughts.

“I know, and I’m sorry. But everyone’s alright, yeah?”

Ryan smiled softly. “Yeah.”

“I guess.” Yaz conceded. She sighed before giving the Doctor a stern look. “I swear to god, don’t you ever do anything like that again!”

The Doctor grinned, happy to see everyone was back to normal. “I’ll try my very best, Yaz, I promise.”

“Good.” Yaz nodded, content for the time being.

“Now that all that is out of the way,” The Doctor shoved off her blankets and stood up, stumbling into Ryan before she was able to teeter over to the small counter where her coat was. She shrugged it on(with great difficulty), using the counter to support herself, before turning clumsily to face her companions.

“Let’s get outta here, yeah?”

Graham looked at her, his expression one of both amusement and concern. “You sure that’s a good idea? Maybe you should resk, Doc.”

“I’m fine, Graham. See?” She took a few wobbling steps toward the door and somehow managed to pull it open. “Come on, you lot! Let’s get a shift on!”

The three humans all exchanged glances.

“We should probably go after her.” They all spoke at the same time, causing them all to laugh as they turned to follow their alien friend as she attempted to ‘sneak’ out of the hospital.

“Doctor, wait for us!” Yaz called, and they all began to run.


End file.
